Hectic at the office lately but I thought I'd post a quickie to ask for ideas to put into the C&R handout. Kinko's can do 2000 for about $100. I think I can interest businesses to put their names on it to get non-profit capital for several thousand. I'll work on it over the weekend.

Years ago I had an idea to do those "euro" stickers for another ff community, the symbol FF@ inside the oval. One of the members happened to be a sticker maker and the rest is history. I still have several which reminds me I need to put one on my new bumper.

It would be too cool to have one C&R!

I was thinking also about handouts for stores, "Today's Schoolie is tomorrows Keeper" and a brochure style listing of things anglers can do.

I think that if you are targeting the non FF folks as well, the term C+R should be avoided. It has a lot of negative stereotypes in it to the non FF guys. Instead, how about something along the lines of "Proper Release of Undersize Stripers" or "Unhooking your Schoolie"...(with subtitle)"So he will be a keeper tommorrow".
Likewise I would talk about fish handling and time out of the water first, then later barbless. Some people are about "give me barbs or give me death". Soften them up then go for the barbless.

Anything I can do to help with logistics, count me in. I can just picture a stack of pamphlets at Surfland with bold letters "________ ____ _______" Fill in a catchy phrase that's not stand-offish to the bait/plug guys.
Would the CCA get behind it? IF they woudn't I would proceed regardless, it's a great idea. And, let's not count out the internet. How about an internet equivelant of the pamphlet?
Anyway, I have a friend who runs a tackle shop (mostly non-FF) and I could pursuade him I'm sure to put out a stack.

How about the title "Treat hookers with respect", or something along those lines . Seriously though - this is a great idea - fostering proper handling techniqes is needed among all anglers no matter what the method of capture.

A few suggestions:

<li>Keep the fish in the water if possible

<li>Do not throw the fish back into the water, and do not throw the fish off jetties, bridges, etc.

<li>If you plan on keeping a fish - please mark off the minimum length on your rod (rubber band/nail polish, etc.) - avoiding the search for a tape and keeping the fish out of the water, or in the sand for prolonged period of time.

<li>If you plan on releasing the fish but want a picture first - please have the camera ready, or better yet have a friend get the camera ready, again limiting the handling time

<li>Try to determine where you will land the fish - before you actually catch one. Often locations do not provide easy landing locations (i.e., jetties), plan ahead and you will have a greater chance of landing the fish and minimize potential stress to the fish

<li>Throw your Boga Grips away -okay this is just my pet peeve and I realize many of you like them - I just think it promotes bad handling practices - out of the water, weigh every fish, let it hang with all the forces of gravity acting on it (BTW - check out the LL Bean FF catalog and read their product description that goes along with the Boga)

Just got back from the Cape over on the Buzzard Bay side. Landed the first one of the year - small 18". My buddy forgot his reels at home - so you might guess what happened. He put on his Ross Gunnisson trout reel and took off some of his backing - loaded my 9wt intermediate on his ten weight and proceeded to hook a keeper+ bass. He was yelling at me and I thought he was pointing to a fish in the water - turned out he needed some assistance as his line was all the way out and he had about 20yds of backing left. He did turn the fish and it made another little run. He finally got to the line and got the fish all the way to where he had the leader in the tip top and the fish turned and the hook popped out. It was a good fish, we were both pretty excited about it and had a good laugh at him asking me to cut my fly off - as we might need to tie my leader to his backing to continue the fight. We managed to see about 8 stripers total, and about 1/2 dozen schools of bait going by.

I agree with Terry's comments on the slogan, I heard a sense of elitism about the C & R theme. I wonder if some form of generic slogan like "Fish for Tomorow" etc would do it.
I like also what Pete suggested with maybe the addition of somthing about having the prospective angler think ahead about what he will do with the fish. Keep it or release it.
Release all of them ? Or Just keep one ? Then there will be some premeditation to bending the barbs or not.

Many are still in the ego enhancement mode of " I caught 43 today almost my record".
For the most part we are doing what can be done by communicating our desires to improve not only the fishery but the way we perceive our participation in the fishery.
Bruce

Question: Since this is a grass roots campaign, would it be efficient to make these pamplets copyable? Would there be a possible loss of respect if the pamphlets were run off on a copier?
We could all carry a few with us, hand one off to the next guy who drop kicks a schoolie, and put them in all the tackle shops. Therefore the print count would be high.

Not sure about the format compatibility issue, but since it's a small document, it wouldn't be hard at all to redo in Quark. Yes, the layout should be such that it can be reproduced on a copy machine. Anything else and it just gets too difficult to disseminate.

Form follows function. I would suggest 8.5 x 11, printed in landscape, tri-folded. That gives six panels in total including a "front cover" (for an eye catching graphic), while the "back" might include a return mailing address for sending in contributions, requests for inclusion on the mailing lists, etc.

What about the other panels? Content? Message? Name for the organization? These are issues that still need to be hammered out. The layout should be secondary.

Perhaps a slogan like - "Handle with Care!" - would be catchy.
You could show a picture/drawing of an envelope/package that was mutilated by the good old US Postal Authority and state 'Is this what the fish you are about to release looks like?'.
Just a thought.